Mehlville has implemented a new schedule for the 24-25 school year which includes shortened class periods and more time for homework. While teachers are losing time to go through their curriculums, students have more opportunities to finish assignments and study for upcoming tests. Mehlville teacher, Kristen Busch, says that the goal of Panther Prep and Academic Time was to let students have more time to get the help and homework time that they need.
“Students can make up a test, do the work, (and) get help.”
Panther Prep is an everyday study hall that gives students more time to work, while Academic Time (AT) is used to let students travel to teachers and receive extra help. Panther Prep and AT are causing classes to shorten by 11 minutes each class in order to accommodate for the 45 minute prep times every day. When asked about the loss of class time, Busch said that with some learning, teachers can adapt their curriculums so that students may not have as much in-class time, but the full curriculum can be covered.
“Teachers utilized that time at the end in order for kids to do work.”
She addresses the curriculum concerns by stating that most teachers are not losing any lecture time, but instead shortening the in-class work time that is being offered to students. Furthermore, Panther Prep and Academic Times are causing a wide variety of changes to the new schedule, but were designed to boost students’ success.
